The rise of Laura Wolvaardt

India kicked off their ICC Women’s Championship campaign with a 2-1 victory over South Africa Women. After winning the first two games comprehensively, it looked like India might register their first clean sweep away from home in a bilateral series with three or more matches. But Mignon du Preez (90 not out) and Laura Wolvaardt (59) helped South Africa chase a stiff 241-run target with seven wickets and four balls to spare in the final game at Senwes Park in Potchefstroom on Saturday (February 10).

During the course of her innings, Wolvaardt completed 1000 ODI runs in her 27th innings, the joint-fourth fastest along with Belinda Clark. The record lies with Lindsay Reeler of Australia who reached the landmark in 23 innings.

Fastest to 1000 ODI runs

Player

Inns

Opposition

Venue

Match Date

Lindsay Reeler (Aus)

23

England

Melbourne

December 18, 1988

Meg Lanning (Aus)

25

South Africa

Sydney

November 23, 2016

Nicole Bolton (Aus)

25

England

Brighton

August 25, 2013

Belinda Clark (Aus)

27

Pakistan

Melbourne

February 7, 1997

Laura Wolvaardt (SA)

27

India

Potchefstroom

February 10, 2018

At 18 years and 290 days, Wolvaardt is the youngest to reach the milestone.

In the second ODI at the Diamond Oval in Kimberley, which India won by 124 runs, Smriti Mandhana levelled Harmanpreet Kaur’s tally of three ODI hundreds with her innings of 135. For India, only Mithali Raj (six) has more ODI tons.

Mandhana’s 135 is also the fourth highest individual score by an Indian batter. Three of the top four of those scores have come during the last one year.

Highest individual scores for India

Player

Runs

Balls

4s

6s

Opposition

Venue

Match Date

Deepti Sharma

188

160

27

2

Ireland

Potchefstroom

May 15, 2017

Harmanpreet Kaur

171*

115

20

7

Australia

Derby

July 20, 2017

Jaya Sharma

138*

150

15

0

Pakistan

Karachi

December 30, 2005

Smriti Mandhana

135

129

14

1

South Africa

Kimberley

February 7, 2018

Mithali Raj

114*

139

12

0

Ireland

Milton Keynes

June 26, 1999

Riding on Mandhana’s century, India posted 302 for 3 on the board – their second-highest total in ODIs.

Highest team totals for India

Score

Overs

Opposition

Venue

Match Date

358/2

50

Ireland

Potchefstroom

May 15, 2017

302/3

50

South Africa

Kimberley

February 7, 2018

298/2

50

West Indies

Dhanbad

February 26, 2004

289/2

50

Pakistan

Karachi

December 30, 2005

284/6

50

West Indies

Mumbai (BS)

January 31, 2013

During South Africa’s innings, Jhulan Goswami dismissed Wolvaardt to become the first woman to reach the landmark of 200 ODI wickets. Goswami, who became the leading wicket-taker in women’s ODIs last year, now has 200 wickets from 166 matches at an average of 21.67.

Most wickets in ODIs

Player

Mat

Wkts

Ave

BBI

SR

Econ

5WM

Jhulan Goswami (Ind)

166

200

21.67

6-31

40.10

3.24

2

Cathryn Fitzpatrick (Aus)

109

180

16.79

5-14

33.40

3.01

4

Lisa Sthalekar (Aus)

125

146

24.97

5-35

40.80

3.66

1

Anisa Mohammed (WI)

111

145

19.07

7-14

34.30

3.32

5

Neetu David (Ind)

97

141

16.34

5-20

34.60

2.82

2

For Trisha Chetty, the South African wicketkeeper, this was the 100th ODI. She became only the second South African women after du Preez to reach the milestone.

Most ODIs for South Africa

Player

Mat

Runs

Ave

HS

100

Wkts

Ave

BBI

5WM

Ct

St

Mignon du Preez

108

2857

33.61

116*

2

0

–

–

0

25

0

Trisha Chetty

100

2419

30.62

95

0

–

–

–

–

97

42

Dane van Niekerk

88

1535

31.97

81

0

121

18.31

5-17

2

45

0

Marizanne Kapp

87

1572

27.10

102*

1

90

25.10

4-14

0

24

0

Shabnim Ismail

79

370

12.33

34

0

115

20.16

6-10

1

23

0

In the first ODI, also at Diamond Oval in Kimberley, Goswami completed 1000 runs in ODI cricket, thus becoming only the fourth player in women’s ODI cricket to achieve a treble of 1000 runs, 50 wickets, and 50 catches. Charlotte Edwards of England was the first to achieve this feat, followed by Suzie Bates of New Zealand and Stafanie Taylor of Windies.

Apart from 200 wickets, Goswami’s 60 catches as a fielder are also a record in women’s ODIs. She is also the eighth player with a double of 1000 runs and 100 wickets after Lisa Sthalekar (Australia), Shashikala Siriwardene (Sri Lanka), Jenny Gunn (England), Ellyse Perry (Australia), Stafanie Taylor (Windies), Dane van Niekerk (South Africa) and Sana Mir (Pakistan).

Players with 1000 runs, 50 wickets and 50 catches

Player

Mat

Runs

Ave

HS

100

Wkts

BBI

Ave

5WM

Ct

Charlotte Edwards (Eng)

191

5992

38.16

173*

9

54

4-30

21.74

0

52

Suzie Bates (NZ)

107

3807

41.83

168

8

74

4-7

32.67

0

54

Stafanie Taylor (WI)

108

4028

43.31

171

5

127

4-17

19.03

0

54

Jhulan Goswami (Ind)

166

1003

13.93

57

0

200

6-31

21.67

2

60

Apart from this, during the series, Mandhana and Deepti Sharma became the seventh and the eighth batter respectively to complete 1000 ODI runs for India, while Harmanpreet went past Jaya Sharma’s aggregate of 2091 ODI runs. She is now India’s third highest run-scorer behind Raj (6259) and Anjum Chopra (2856).

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